lost world: digitizing the fürer -haimendorf collection

Lost world:Digitizing the Fürer-Haimendorf

CollectionSusannah Rayner

Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf

• Born in Vienna in 1909• 1931 – PhD in anthropology

from the University of Vienna• Studies at LSE• 1936 – first trip to the Naga

Hills• 1938 – marries Betty Barnardo• 1950 – Professor of

Anthropology at SOAS• 1975-77 – President of the RAI• Died in London in 1995

Welcome to Nagaland

Raid on Pangsha J P Mills

The problem

• Large and varied archive• Cataloguing• Specialist expertise• Funding• Format

Access to the collection before

digitisation

The solution

• Expertise• Opportunity &

enterprise• Funding

Project aims1. To provide access to the photographs, while

preserving the physical condition of the original material.

2. To create high resolution images of the originals photographs

3. To use the project as a pilot for future digitisation projects at SOAS.

Process

• Project team• Digitization• Metadata input• Website design• Upload

Methodology• Initial assessment• Cleaning and scanning • Entry of technical and

administrative metadata

• Entry of descriptive metadata

• Checksum generation• Ingestion to Web site

Equipment • A Nikon LS-5000 35mm film scanner attached to a PC workstation was used for all scanning

• Vuescan was used to acquire the image

• Lightroom was used for metadata entry

Nikon LS-5000 35mm film scanner

Challenges

• In-house versus out-sourcing

• Working off-site• Data storage and

transmission• Time allocation for

project management• HR

Resultshttp://digital.info.soas.ac.uk/

• Images online• Fully catalogued• Free research resource• Preservation • Digitisation expertise• Sustainability and

strategic management• Launch

Lessons learnt• Don’t be afraid to ask • Be realistic in your aims• Project Management is a

demanding, full-time role • Technology is not the issue • Invest in training • Sustainability • Team membership • In-house v. outsourcing• Quality v quantity

‘What I saw in 1936 and 1937 is now a page in India’s history, to be remembered and recorded but never to be observed again’.

Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf, 1962